[garciasn]

The article claims are that Brightline will send 32 trains daily, supposedly taking ~30 minutes less than the drive at up to 125 miles per hour, but only during part of the trip. It will travel up to 79 mph in urban areas and 110 mph in less-populated regions. According to the article, single riders will pay $158 round-trip for business class and $298 for first class, but families and groups will be able to buy four round-trip tickets for $398.

I struggle to see how this will perform better than the hour-long flight currently ~$200 (which will very likely be lower when this rail line comes into service) for business users, although the $400 fee may be attractive to some families, and have it hit their supposed 8MM annual ridership numbers when compared to airline travel.

Their current service between Miami and West Palm Beach is at a low of ~$50 round trip which is a much more reasonable amount when compared to the competing transit services and of course it's going to drive nearly 1MM riders through the first half of the year. But, I think they'll struggle with the longer route with higher costs and more competition from airlines.

We shall see.

[bick_nyers]

For one off trips the advantage is you don't need to deal with airport security or feeling cramped in a cheap airline seat.

They are also offering commuter and family passes that offer wifi access and bring the price down to $6 or $14 per ride (that might not be the Orlando price specifically). The family pass let's you share it with family members as well which is nice, living near Orlando we are a popular travel destination for family (Disney World + free tickets bc my wife works for Disney).

[tempsy]

Because you don't have to deal with flight delays, TSA, cost of travel/uber/taxi to/from the airport?

I don't really think this route is going to be business travel heavy either way. This will almost certainly be a leisure route for people/families in Miami area who want to go to Disney World/Universal Studios.